Published 8:00 pm, Sunday, February 10, 2002

Li  who advanced out of qualifying earlier in the week  won her eighth match in as many days Sunday to capture the Dow Corning/USTA Women's Challenger championship with a 6-1, 6-2 victory.

Washington, who rallied from one-set deficits three times during the tournament, was no match for the 20-year-old from Wuhan, Hubei, China. Having never faced Washington before, Li simply stuck to the game plan that got her to Sunday's final.

"She said she didn't really have a (special) strategy because she didn't really know who her opponent was," said an interpreter, translating Li's comments.

As has been the case all week, Li's attacking style was brutally simple  and brutally effective.

Using hard, deep groundstrokes, she kept Washington on the move nearly constantly, either forcing Washington into making errors or planting winners down the lines.

"She just played well today. That was it. She just hit good, deep shots, and she was hitting about 50,000 balls right inside the baseline or right on the baseline," said Washington, who, like Li, was making her first finals appearance at Midland. "When players are getting that much depth (on their shots), it's very hard to create your own depth. She just played well today."

On Saturday evening, Li dispatched Erika de Lone in an astonishing 39 minutes. And on Sunday, even against the fleet-footed Washington, Li was nearly as dominant.

Li banged out 15 winners to only seven for Washington. She was also a tidy 4 of 6 on break chances, while Washington managed to generate only one break opportunity and failed to convert.

For her part, Washington struggled both on serve and on return of serve. She committed six double-faults, while winning only 14 points on Li's serve.

"She's strong off (her groundstrokes), and she was on today," said Washington. " … I think she was just going out there and going for her strokes, and that's what you have to do to win matches  you have to go for it. I really think she did that today."

Washington, a slow starter all week long, actually had a golden opportunity to take control early on, erasing a 40-0 deficit in the opening game to earn her sole break point of the match. Five points later, however, an unforced error by Washington gave Li the service hold and a 1-0 lead.

Li then broke Washington at 15 and held serve to go up 3-0. Three games later, Li broke again to take a 5-1 lead, then served out the first set.

Washington seemed to gain a little momentum in the opening game of the second set, as she outlasted Li in a three-deuce battle to hold serve and take a 1-0 edge. Li, however, broke Washington in the third and seventh games of the set.

"If I could go back (and play the match over), I would just try to relax and try to make my shot and not worry about the next shot, not think two strokes ahead," said Washington, who admitted to perhaps thinking too much on the court, as opposed to simply reacting.

"I was definitely feeling a bit of pressure from her (on my serve)  not really on her return but on her next shots after the return," Washington continued. "It seemed like I was always on the defensive."

Li, who entered the tournament ranked 308th in the world, said she was "happy" to win but added through the interpreter that she wasn't going to get too caught up with her recent success.

"She said she probably won't feel much different because there's always a tournament going on each week, so every week is something new to start over again," the interpreter said.

Li added that she her visa allows her to stay in the United States for a while longer but noted that she intends to return home to China in time for the start of the Chinese New Year on Tuesday.

Washington, meanwhile, said she was disappointed not to have won the championship but pleased to have gotten to the finals.

"I'm extremely happy. I've come here so many years and lost in the first or second round. Last year, I (made the quarterfinals), and I wanted to at least match that," she said. "I'm happy, even though I would've loved to win today and gotten the title. But, hey, I'm going to play many more tournaments."